Cheering for a sports team brings people together in all sorts of situations. You can walk into a bar in a foreign country, spot someone wearing your team colors, and immediately be drawn to them. By the same token, cheering a sports team on as a family can create some very strong bonding during the childhood and teenage years. If you don't already have a team you follow -- or even if you do -- you can participate in this as a great bonding family activity.

Choose a team that everyone can enjoy following. Many people have very specific guidelines for sports they enjoy or hate, so be sure to take everyone's opinion into account. For instance, the sheer number of baseball games may be great for some people, whose lives are busy and who may not be able to see every single one but will want the gist of a season in a single game; on the other hand, some people may dislike that one game is incredibly unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

The first practical step, obviously, is to attend games together. Make it a family outing; choose the team, purchase some tickets on a day when you are all available to go, and then make it a big, fun deal. Try to start attending games early on in the lives of your children, so that the team is an integral part of their childhood and they can build early memories of sharing this experience with the whole family.

Even if you can't afford tickets, watch games at home. Gather around during or after dinner and enjoy the action, laugh about the commercials, and try to beat the commentators to saying what just happened. For sports such as football, which have very few games over the course of a year, come up with traditions for every weekend: pop some popcorn, warm up some cider or hot chocolate, and play in the backyard at halftime.

Make the team part of your everyday vernacular. Learn the names of the players, really learn the rules, and incorporate metaphors into your life. You'll find that sharing a common vocabulary really bonds you together, because you can all reference things in other parts of life and understand this unique way of doing so.

Choose favorites! Maybe you decide to follow an entire sport instead of one team, because everyone likes a different city's squad. In that case, pick favorite teams, players, uniforms, stadiums -- anything you can start a friendly rivalry over. Sometimes, the spark of controversy will actually draw you closer than the shared experience of cheering for the same team.

Here's another great family activity: garage saling! You can find tons of garage sales in your area by going to GarageSaleCow.com and searching our map for free. We've also got some other great resources for people interested in local sales. Love to see you there!

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Sharing a hobby together with your family is the best bonding you could have with them. Like in our family, we love basketball - from my father to my little sister. My mother and sister did not like basketball first but it came to a point that because we were always watching basketball games, they started to like it and eventually, all the four of us watched it together. If I came home late and I missed a game, I would just ask my sister about who played and if she remembered who won, the best player, etc...

It was amusing to see that they learned to like basketball because my father and I was addicted to it. Now we watch the nba and college basketball together. GO UK!!!

I love watching basketball games with my father. Before the games, we would have our own teams and predictions on who will win the game. Although it involves some amount of cash, just for the fun, the more important thing you receive as a reward is bragging rights at home that you're a better manager and basketball player. We take it personally and choose rival teams to spice things a bit. We get into the game so much that we fight even when we arrive home because no one wants to admit that they have the weaker team. Despite all of that, I'm happy because I get to bond with my player and even play with him sometimes.

Our favorite basketball league is the NCAA. The atmosphere is different from the NBA especially when you're playing for your school and thousands of faithfuls rally and scream behind you. I'm a Duke fan while my brother is a North Carolina faithful :p At the start of the season, we take bets on how far our teams will go and most of the time, I win the bets since I'm with Duke None the less, we both know that anything can happen especially when the playoffs start.

A single game would decide if you're advancing to the next round and you don't need to be the best team, you just need to the best team THAT DAY. So it gives underdogs a chance to fight and reach the finals if ever their cinderella story doesn't stop.

Even when were going out, were always talking about basketball and the NCAA. It has become a part of our lives and on weekends, we play pick up basketball with our friends in a nearby park. Guess who's the better player? No doubt, it's me.

While watching games together at home, order some pizza and burgers or french fries to make the experience even better. You're like watching in a movie house but its cheaper and more comfortable. You share the "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" with your family and the joy and amazement you see an amazing play happen. You get to appreciate each play and learn different perspectives about a team or the game itself. Your mother could see that the other team is panicking while you're just calm because you know they'll bounce back in the second half...

Things like that could start a conversation and it can continue more than you can ever think of. You'll be shocked that your father will mention a game more than a month ago and you'll both remember it like it was just yesterday that you've watched that game. Those moments are priceless when it just comes out of no where.

I don't really share a lot things with my family. When talking about sports, I can talk better with my friends especially with this friend of mine named Francis. Everyday, before class starts, I pop a headline or game last night in the NBA and we would talk until our professor arrives. Were like amateur commentators and court side reporters because we have a lot to say and we know the latest rumors and intriguing stories about players and teams.

We discuss national teams and if they have the right personnel. We pick our own team USA for FIBA and argue on each spot on the team. We share the same passion and enjoy doing it. We also play ball during our free time.

My brothers and some of my friends prefer to watch soccer games than basketball games. I can't really understand at first why they're so hooked with such a boring game and a hard goal to score. But one day, I gave it a chance and unexpectedly, I enjoyed watching and screaming together with them. The rush you get when your favorite player steps on the field and performs a trick for the highlights reel but nothing compares to a spectacular goal. It gets all the fans pumped up and the stadium just roars in fun and excitement.

I salute to those fans in the UK since they are very devoted to their teams. They have their own fan clubs for each football team and they take it seriously. Even after they, they fight each other because on party disrespected a member of the other fan club. They camp out the stadiums and party even before the games start. It gets ugly when someone starts a riot and it goes out of hand easily. Maybe I'll visit Europe and experience the adrenaline rush myself. FIFA

I only know a few players about soccer - Messi, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and that's pretty much it I catch a few soccer games while changing channels in our television but I don't take time to stop and maybe watch a few minutes of action.

But if you ask me about basketball, then it's a different ball game. I'm a walking, talking encyclopedia of stats, teams, players, hall of famers, news and headlines and a lot more. I get updated by visiting NBA.com and some trusted blogs and sites that feature the latest news around the league. I'm a frustrated player because I've always dreamt of playing in the NBA but for now, I'll need to put that aside to take of my priorities and my job. Anyway, I spend most of my time reading articles and news about recent games.

It's funny because I can read a hundred basketball articles but I find it hard to read just two pages of a book when I was in college. I guess its different when you're doing something you love. It doesn't feel like a burden and time flies so fast because you're having fun doing it. Do what you love and love what you do.

A good conversation opener about sports is a controversy or rumor. It gets the attention of your family member or friend and sparks an imagination of "what if it's true?" I read a lot of speculations especially when it comes to trades between teams. But nothing compares to an issue about a player like he has an attitude, he's in a controversy such as bringing guns into the locker room and especially their personal lives like they're having a divorce or they're being sued for rape and things like that.

When were, me and my family, choosing a team to support in any sport for that matter, we always choose the underdogs. We love the attitude of underdogs because they have nothing to lose and the chip of the shoulder is on the other team. They play hard and hustle the whole game because everyone expects them to lose. But it's fulfilling to win despite the odds are against you and it's sweeter to shut up those haters and shock the favorites.

Personally, I also like being the underdog because you're away from the scrutiny and the temptations of being famous. You can work hard while they're partying because they think over past you already. They think that you're just another team that they will run over and just move on to the next. The face of the favorites showing the frustration and shock when they're about to lose is priceless. They realize that there's someone out there who's working harder and is becoming better while they're doing nonsense.

Any football fans? I love Emmitt Smith and Ray Lewis. They're my all time favorites with Jerry Rice. I got inspired to work harder when I saw their stories in youtube on how they struggled to reach where they are now. The countless hours spent on the gym, the ocean of sweat perspired and the pure determination to succeed are important to achieve your goals. I just remember a quote that I live by every single day of my life.

It goes "All men are created EQUAL, some WORK HARDER IN PRESEASON." At times when I want to quit and take a day off, I remember that quote and it gives me the motivation and drive to continue and train harder each day. I work hard because I know I will reap the fruits of my labor and I'm not getting results now, that means that I'm not working that hard to be successful. I strive to beat nobody but myself. I don't compare myself to him or her because I know I have my own strengths and weaknesses and I work through them. WORK HARDER

Nothing can be compared to watching the NBA playoffs and it's even better when the Lakers and the Celtics play. The two teams have a long history behind them. From the time of bill russell, bob cousy and magic johnson, kareem abdul jabar and up to now with kobe, gasol vs rondo, pierce and garnett. It feels like the world stops turning and no matter what you're doing at that time - you have a class, presentation, an exam or anything you can think of, you'll surely sit and watch the game. All the hype and the grudges each team has for each other can be released when the ball is tossed during the jump ball.